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The rise of Chinese AI lab DeepSeek marks an inflection point for Silicon Valley’s AI landscape

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Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has released open versions of AI models that compete with the best technology OpenAI , Meta , and Google have to offer.

The development has rattled tech giants and the highest levels of the U.S. government, which fear that China is pulling ahead in the AI arms race.

Experts say the models serve as an indicator of the accelerating rate of AI progress.

The real concern around AI , a16z and others have repeatedly said, is America losing its competitive edge to China .

President Trump said on Monday that DeepSeek should be a “wakeup call” for U.S. AI companies.

“DeepSeek R1 is AI ’s Sputnik moment,” said co-founder Marc Andreessen in a post on X.